In 2021, director James Wan shook up the horror world with his fright film Malignant, which not only was willing to go over-the-top but seemed to love every single second of it. Malignant's excesses had fans arguing whether it was a "good" or "bad" movie, but one thing was certain -- Wan had a memorable new title in his resume, which also includes movies in the Saw, Insidious, and The Conjuring franchises. However, he may soon add another in the vein of Malignant: the sci-fi/horror film M3GAN, which re-teams him with Malignant screenwriter Akela Cooper.The recently released trailer for M3GAN features Allison Williams -- well known for her role in Jordan Peele's Get Out -- as a toy company roboticist who gives her lonely niece a life-sized robotic doll named M3GAN. Because M3GAN is a horror film, the doll becomes murderously protective of her new friend. Although Wan is a producer and not a director on M3GAN, the film appears to have the same gleefully deranged feel as Malignant. However, that is not the only trait the two films share: M3GAN herself seems to be quite acrobatic and physically agile, much like Malignant's villainous Gabriel.
M3GAN Looks Just as Wild as Malignant
At the time of its release, Malignant was one of the wildest horror studio movies that fright fans had seen in a long time. Its big reveal and the carnage of Gabriel, its backward-walking killer, left fans' jaws on the floor. Unlike the Wan-produced Annabelle movies that rely more on mood, M3GAN looks like it is ready to follow the path of Malignant and just throw any subtlety out the window.
Its premise -- involving a life-sized android doll that moves like a human -- is completely absurd, but the trailer gives viewers the sense that M3GAN's filmmakers know it. There are moments where M3GAN chases a bully on all fours like an attack dog or arms herself with a paper cutter blade and a nail gun. It makes a viewer feel that Wan, Cooper, and director Gerard Johnstone are interested in just having fun and leaving audiences stunned by their sheer audacity -- just like Malignant did.
M3GAN Has Iconic Moves Like Malignant's Gabriel
One of the most memorable sequences in Malignant was when Gabriel fought police officers in a station house while also acrobatically dodging bullets and leaping around desks. The M3GAN trailer shows that its title character has similar moves of her own, as she dances and flips in moments that have already been memed on social media. If Cooper's own Twitter account is any indication, the filmmakers have a good sense of humor and are ready to embrace the fun people are having with M3GAN, even before the film's release.
Some might consider it bad that a horror film like M3GAN or Malignant would lean so hard into absurdity. However, not all horror movies have to be serious affairs, like Heredity or The Witch. Instead, films like M3GAN are often the reasons that many become horror fans and return to them time and time again -- because they're just plain fun.
To see how M3GAN play outs, the film hits theaters on Jan. 13, 2023.